Online second-hand clothing platform Vinted has raised 128 million euros to further develop its platform and accelerate its expansion. After this new capital round, the company is now valued at around a billion euros.
Focus on growth
With the new capital, the Lithuanian company wants to expand European activities and improve the buying and selling process. In addition, part of the money would be put aside for possible acquisitions. CEO Thomas Plantenga, who has been the head of the company since 2016, wants to stay true to the original concept and only sell used clothing. Approximately 75 % of Vinted’s customers have never bought or sold second-hand clothing before coming to the platform, Plantenga told TechCrunch, so “the stigma is no longer there“.
Last year, the second-hand platform’s revenues tripled to 32.9 million euros, but the net loss increased to 42 million euros, mainly as a result of rising marketing costs. “We know that this business model works, that it offers value to users, and that it can be profitable”, Plantenga told Bloomberg. “However, our focus is on accelerating our growth across Europe and delivering the best possible product to our members – and we will increase our investments to enable this growth.”
Vinted was founded in Lithuania in 2008 by Milda Mitkute and Justas Janauskas. The platform is available in a dozen countries, its largest markets being Belgium, France, Germany, and Spain. At the end of August, the company counted more than 700,000 Belgian users. The new capital round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, a new Vinted investor, but the existing shareholders (Accel, Burda Principal Investments, Insight Venture Partners, and Sprints Capital) also took part.
